Google has new phone, and larger Nexus 7

Tuesday

Oct 30, 2012 at 6:00 AM

By Michael Liedtke THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Google is cramming a few more gadgets on to already crowded holiday shopping lists.

The devices announced Monday include the latest in Google’s line of Nexus smartphones and a larger version of the 7-inch Nexus 7 tablet, which the company began selling in July under the Nexus brand. It’s also adding cellular capabilities to the Nexus 7 and doubling the capacity of existing models.

The Nexus 4 smartphone is being made by LG Electronics Inc. and features a minor update to Google’s Android operating system, which now powers more than 500 million devices worldwide. A more comprehensive upgrade, known as Key Lime Pie, is expected next year. The version of Android affected by these changes is known as Jelly Bean.

The larger Nexus tablet is being made by Samsung Electronics Co. and features a display screen that measures about 10 inches diagonally, about the same size as Apple Inc.’s top-selling iPad.

With these additions to its product lineup, Google joins a procession of companies selling a gamut of sleek and powerful computing devices in different shapes and sizes. Some are smartphones and other are tablet computers, but they all aim to cater to people’s growing interest to have easily portable devices that can be used to connect to the Internet, take pictures, watch video and read books, magazines and newspapers.

Google’s Nexus devices will be competing with gadgets from such companies as Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Barnes & Noble Inc., Samsung and Microsoft Corp. Microsoft released a new tablet called Surface last week and launched new software for phones on Monday.

Google’s introduction of a larger tablet comes less than a week after Apple announced it’s making a smaller, less expensive iPad, with a 7.9-inch display, to compete with the Nexus 7 and Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle Fire. The iPad Mini will be available in stores Friday.

Some analysts have questioned whether consumers will balk at the iPad Mini’s $329 price for a device with 16 gigabytes of storage. Google is widening the price difference between the iPad Mini and its smaller tablet by cutting $50 off the price of a comparable, 16-gigabyte Nexus 7, to $199. The 8-gigabyte version, which had sold for $199, will be discontinued. A Nexus 7 with 32 gigabytes of storage is being introduced for $249 in an apparent effort to discourage even more people from buying the iPad Mini. The cheapest Nexus 7 is still pricier than the Kindle Fire, which starts at $159 for a no-frills model.

The Nexus 7 tablets will continue to be sold at Google’s Play store online as well as such retailers as Game-Stop, Office Depot, Office Max, Staples, Wal-Mart.

The Nexus 10 tablet with 16 gigabytes of storage will sell for $399. That’s $100 less than the comparable version of the latest iPad, though the older iPad 2 is still available at that price. The Nexus goes on sale in Google’s online store Nov. 13.

The Nexus 4 phone boasts a 4.7-inch screen, larger than Apple’s recently released iPhone 5 and just slightly smaller than Samsung’s flagship phone, the Galaxy S III. A 16-gigabyte model of the Nexus 4 will sell for $199 with a two-year contract to buy phone service and Internet access from T-Mobile. A contract-free version is available for $299 with 8 gigabytes of storage and $349 for the 16-gigabyte model. Google is touting the Nexus 4’s wireless charging capability as a major selling point.

Microsoft entered the tablet fray last week with the Surface. The initial model runs Windows RT, part of the Windows 8 family of operating systems. Microsoft has radically redesigned Windows to appeal to people who want the utility of a personal computer coupled with the convenience of smaller mobile devices that rely on touch controls. More than 1,000 PCs and other devices are expected to run on Windows 8.

Microsoft launched its version of Windows 8 for smartphones in San Francisco at an event Monday that included an appearance by actress Jessica Alba. Google had hoped to upstage Microsoft’s celebration by rolling out its latest gadgets at an event a few hours earlier in New York, but that got canceled because of Hurricane Sandy. The company, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., instead released details about the devices in a blog post.